A federal judge on Thursday for the second time upheld a law that prohibits businesses knowingly from hiring illegal immigrants and pulls the business licenses of those which do so.
U.S. District Judge Neil Wake dismissed a lawsuit filed by business groups that sought to invalidate the law. The business groups, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, argued the law unconstitutionally infringed on federal immigration powers. Judge Wake concluded, however, there was no conflict with federal law, which he said specifically allows states to regulate business licensing. ‘Preservation of that state power was itself part of Congress’ careful balancing of policy objectives,’ Wake wrote.
Wake also ruled the law gives sufficient due process protections to businesses.
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The leftist 9th Circuit Court of Appeals might very well disagree with that ruling. But in one major respect that could be the best possible thing for supporters of that law. An adverse 9th Circuit ruling would set the stage for a binding, national precedent by the U.S. Supreme Court. The SCOTUS most often treats 9th Circuit opinions the same way authors treat scratch paper.
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Here’s a link to the AP article on which this post is based.
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Judge Wake was nominated — yeah, you guessed it — by George W. Bush.
